ICRC president reaffirms support for convention against enforced disappearance

6-02-2007 News release 07/13

Paris/Geneva (ICRC) – "No war, no emergency, no national security imperative can justify enforced disappearance", said Jakob Kellenberger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), at the ceremony to open for signature the International Convention for the protection of all persons from enforced disappearance.

"The ICRC is grateful for France's support for this Convention and hopes that all States will follow its lead", Mr Kellenberger added, declaring that the treaty marked a victory for the families of the disappeared. The anguish of not knowing what has happened to a loved one and the sadness of indefinite separation amounted to intolerable suffering, he said.

The ICRC does its utmost to prevent enforced disappearances in the various countries where it works. The convention will enter into force 30 days after the 20th State has signed it. The ICRC hopes that this will be done without delay.

For further information, please contact:
Frédéric Joli, ICRC Paris, tel. +33 1 56 54 11 11 or +33 6 81 87 01 73
Carla Haddad, ICRC Geneva, tel. +41 22 730 24 05 or +41 79 217 32 26

©ICRC/F. Joli

Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Marta Ocampo de Vasquez, President of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Association and ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger at the ceremony in Paris.